Field
This application generally relates to covers for mechanical switches, and more particularly to protective cases for mobile electronic devices having switch covers configured to actuate mechanical switches on the mobile electronic devices.
Description of the Related Art
Many mobile devices (e.g., mobile phones, digital assistants, mobile communication devices, handheld video game devices, handheld computing devices, personal music/video/content players, navigation systems, sensors, and storage devices) may be expensive, may have fragile equipment such as breakable glass touchscreens and lenses, may have easily scuffed decorative finishes, may have delicate internal electronic components, and may have easily broken or lost buttons and/or switches. People have also become more and more dependent on the data, contacts, and calendars stored in their mobile devices, even as the devices shrink and incorporate more expensive and more sensitive components. These expensive devices and the critical stored data can be protected with a relatively inexpensive protective case. Additionally as the mobile device form factor shrinks, the mechanical controls can similarly shrink.
Additionally, such mobile devices are typically designed to satisfy the needs of a wide array of consumers. While some consumers are comfortable with no case or decorative cases providing minimal protection, for other consumers, these devices are frequently used in harmful environments such that external covers capable of protecting the internal device from liquid, dust, crushing, and impact are beneficial. Consequently, users who wish to protect their mobile device in harmful environments (e.g., military, law enforcement, construction workers, and outdoors enthusiasts) often protect their cases with bulky, durable cases.
One solution to access buttons through an external case is to include depressible pass-through buttons that do not directly expose the device, thereby providing additional protection without noticeable access ports. However, some mobile devices incorporate switches or toggles, which mechanically move from a first position to a second position. Sometimes the switches or toggles visibly identify the present status, such as through a 1 and 0 or red and green indicator. A depressible pass-through button on a case does not adequately control a switch or toggle on a mobile device and does not provide any visible identifier of the current switch or toggle status. Previous solutions often include pass-through holes in the case or thin, flexible membranes for switches and toggles. Pass-through holes and thin membranes reduce the protection provided by the case, and as the size of mobile devices shrinks, the space available to access a switch or toggle is more and more restricted, and any interference can negatively impact the accessibility of a switch or toggle. Additionally, very small switches sometimes require fingernail operation, and repetitive fingernail access on a membrane can damage or pierce the membrane, reducing the functionality and eliminating and waterproof or protective benefit. Further, pass-through holes and membranes frequently interrupt the aesthetics of the external case.